But while Kiko maintained his independence admirably throughout, Villar saw the forthcoming sweep of the so-called Genuine Opposition (a phrase that made me puke when they coined it), and rode the bandwagon at the tail-end, after spending hundreds of his fabled millions.

Genuine, meaningful legislation has been replaced by rampant pay-for-play politics, nauseating cronyism, perverse corruption and a legislative body that votes and marches in-line with the most unpopular President in American history.